Himalayan Art Resources' Jeff Watt couldn't be more emphatic: Art for art's sake is as old as Tibet—in fact, far older. So you can imagine how ticked off the Tibetan iconography expert was when he read this at artdaily.org:
There is no Tibetan equivalent for the word “art” as it is known in the West. The closest approximation is lha dri pa, literally, “to draw a deity.” Traditionally, neither the Tibetan language nor the Tibetan cultural framework has recognized art for art’s sake, and an artist’s efficacy rests in his ability to precisely replicate an established visual language and portray the essence of a particular deity. (Artdaily.org).
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Jeff Watt over at Jeff's Travels points us to Yoni Zilber's Tibetan-themed tattoos. It's one way to view Tibetan art, and another is to visit the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art in the nation's capital ("In the Realm of the Buddha," through July 18). I've often talked to Jeff about the role of art in Buddhism and he has often complained that stripped of its connection to practice, religious objects are rendered pretty meaningless.
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